Covering for bottles, jars, or other vessels.



. J. R. MOHFORD. COVERING FOR BOTTLES, JARS, OR OTHER VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1911.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

WW. W Y y W Witnesses.

@ him Til" JAMESVRIPPON MQRFORD, 01 noNnon, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 ri-IE vrsoosn DEVELQ c/ "OIPMENT COMP-ANY LIMITED, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

COVERING .FOR BOTTLES, JARS, OR OTHER VESSELS."

To all whom it may concern.

' Beit known that I, JAMES RIPPoN Mon- FORD, a subject of the King of Great Britain,

residing at 11 Queen Victoria street, in the city of London, England, works manager,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coverings for Bottles, Jars, or other Vessels, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the.

accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation-of a portion of a bottle and illustrating the'initial condition of the cap, and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing .the cap after it has given up its water ofhydration andhas shrunk over the stopper and neck of the bottle.

A method of sealing bottles has been proposed and described by applying tubular or conical capsules composed of hydrated cellulose, the capsule being placed loosely over the neck of the vessel'to be sealed, and exposed to the air shrinks or contracts by rea-' son. of the loss of water of hydration of the cellulose hydrate; in shrinking, the capsule fastens itself to the neck and-any projecting surfaces such as those of the cork or stopper, and in the final condition is under considerable tension on its free'surfaces. It now constitutes a transparent seal, rigidly .se-

I cured by the automatic process described,

According to the present invention certain estersof cellulose f;or .of cellulose de-' rivatives are adaptedfor similar applica-,

tion, namely thoseesters which v are soluble: in liquidsperfectly miscible with water and 1 can be separated from their solution in sucha liquid as, acontinuous. film, in 'combinaproportion of water of hydration.

By. spreading the solution of the ester on a suitable surface of the requiredshapeand then bringing the coated surface into con-'- tact with water or an aqueous solution'of a. salt or of another. substance having no in; jurious effect upon the ester, therej-i obs; tained a correspondingly shaped film orlayer of hydrated ester ofcellulose or of cellulose derivative constituting a hollow cap or article adapted. for useful purposes.

For'example, a solution of cellulose acetate in glacial acetic acid spread upon a resistant surface, and then exposed to water, is'coe agulated to a transparent hydrated film,

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed March 20, 1911. Serial No. 615,696. v f.

composed of cellulose, acetate 17420 per Patented Aug. so, 1915.

cent, and water of hydration 83-80- per cent. as examples;

To prepare capsules or covers of suitable shape, glass tubes resembling test tubes may be dipped into the solution of the acetate containing 10-14% per cent. or other suitable" These percentages are merely given' surface of the tubes. These are then plunged into a-bath of water, or an aqueous solution such as a solutlon of a salt or neutral body such as glycerin; The solution of the ester is rapidly coagulated and the capsules thusformed are stripped from the tubes and pre-;

served in contact with water in the hy.-'

drated condition. For use they are removed and placed looselyvon the neck of the vessel to be sealed oron the stopper, handle, or

other object to be covered. Instead of a tubular shape-the capsule or cover may be given any desired shape. such as a rectangular, oval or polygonal form by using corre'-,

spondingly shaped surfaces 'on which the solution of the ester is spread. By mixing an inert solid with the. solution ofthe' ester the' capsule 'orcover may be made opaque; or it may be colored by mixing the solution with a pigment or a soluble dyestufi. It is evident that if the hydrated rialis allowed to shrink on a surface from which it can readily be detached it may then mate constitute a .hollow' articlecapable'of useful applications. If two such-articlesjofsimil'ar' shape are made they may be'fitted to ether'to form-boxes or cases. If the coated article be a ring or tube the. c p g y shaped film of hydrated ester maybe ap--- p1ied,jfor instance to a jar or thelike around "the junction of the lid with the jar so that ,Whenthe ring or tube has shrunk seal the lid in place.

Oneessential and important difference 1 it will between the articles described in theopening paragraph of this specification and those which are formed by my process, is' that. the latter'arerelatively water proof, al-

though a prolonged immersion in water may produce'a slight induration and softening, whereas the former are not water proof.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the manner of carrying out my invention, a designates the body of a bottle, a the usual stopper inserted in the neck a arid b is a hollow cap formed according to the invention. In Fig. l the cap is represented as being in a wet condition and loose upon the stopper a, while Fig. 2 represents the cap in its dry and shrunk condition securely clasping the stopper and bottle neck.

Having thus described the nature of this invention and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. A hollow article or cap, consisting of wet hydrated ester of cellulose or ester of cellulose derivative, adapted to be placed upon a substantially similarly shaped surface to give up its water of hydration and shrink to become substantially the exact shape of said surface, substantially as described.

JAMES RIPPON MORFORD.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH R. MILLARD, OLIVER IMRAY. 

